The Psychopathology of Fonts

Yet another week whizzes by. I’m in the UK now. I must say, that living in Japan, I don’t miss the British weather. First, apologies to everyone who tried to access iLT yesterday, and got a blank page. My host Media Temple has been dreadful of late. iLT was off-line for over seven hours. Their Grid-Service hosting is turning out to be a waste of time, so I’ll be looking for a decent host.

Anyway, back to Sunday Type. I’ve added some typefaces to the December Fonts in the sidebar. Be sure to check them out. I’m quite a fan of National and Rongel in particular. Tired of Helvetica? Then buy National.

I recently came across the blog davidthedesigner.com and am enjoying it. I really like the idea of his recent first post in an ambitious series of 52–52 fonts you could use instead of Helvetica; the idea is to choose two fonts for each of the letters of the alphabet, posting them weekly. Strictly speaking the types he chooses will not be drop-in replacements for Helvetica, but I like the idea, and it was enough to make me a subscriber. Richard from the wonderful Ace Jet 170 also wrote a guest post for David’s blog (never Dave), titled Psycho-fontology (only Richard could come up with a title like that). Anyway, the post is well worth a read, as he analyses what our font libraries reveal about our personalities.

If Freud was checking out your Font Book or Suitcase what would he think? We all know horizontal scaling suggests criminal tendencies but what would he make of the habitual setting of Bembo or Bliss?

Another David sent me this ad. I think I need to have another toilet tissue category for these.
http://www.ifilm.com/video/2918765

And, no, I did not model for this video.

Feeling Hungry?

Well, get on down to the Font Diner and ‘fill your boots’. In looking for a typeface to describe my mood when iLT went off-line yesterday, I found the free font Xerker (which rhymes with berserker[well, kind of]), which I’ve used to set the header for this post.

Alec Julien, who is fast becoming a regular iLT contributor with his So You Want to Create a Font Series, and his recent Case Study, has just launched another sans serif called Loge.

Type For Kids

I’m still working on the Type For Kids article. The idea is to propose ways of introducing type and type design to young children. If you have ideas, or have any experience in this field, then do send me a mail. You might be surprised to know how often I receive emails asking for my opinion on this topic.

I’m not sure what to make of this next item brought to my attention by Dan Reynolds from TypeOff: The Ascender Hanukkah Card Kit Font.

This package contains five Certified TrueType fonts and five Hanukkah Card templates ready for customizing in Microsoft Word.

I wonder if anyone has ideas for a similar set of fonts for Christmas.

700 Penguins

I’ve just bought a copy of Seven Hundred Penguins–this is the sort of book you’d expect to find on Richard’s (of Ace Jet 170 fame) bedside table. It’s a book that will be of interest to book designers, graphic designers, those with an interest in type…well, just about anyone really. Would make a great Christmas present too. 700 hundred covers from Penguin-published books, spanning some 70-odd years. If you’re ever lacking inspiration, then a quick flick through this tome, will recharge your creative batteries.

Oddly enough, I couldn’t find this title on Amazon.com. However, it is available on Amazon.co.uk.

Meta + Meta Sans Candidate?

I bought a copy of New Scientist magazine the other day, and had a thought: presently it uses Fago (I think) for titles and Luc de Groot‘s TheAntiqua for the body. I just thought that this magazine would be a good candidate for FF Meta and FF Meta Serif for titling and running text respectively. Just thinking aloud really. Any thoughts?

100 Best Fonts

I’m always being pressed to publish a list of good fonts, or a list of my favourite types. Perhaps I will at some stage. In the meantime there’s a wonderful list called Die 100 Besten Schriften (100 Best Fonts); this list has been around for a while, but it’s pretty good, and there’s also a good-looking PDF to download–containing samples of most of the faces in the list (does anyone know if this list is available in English translation?).

One of my favourite typefaces (I adore it), Martin Majoor’s Scala, is in 34th position; would have liked to see it higher up the list. How about you? Are there glaring omissions, or would your own list of 100 look similar?

Typografie

Today Julian Schrader posted about a free, rather handsome-looking catalogue available from Typografie.com. I’ve requested a copy, though I’m not sure whether they will post for free outside of Germany. Anyway, if you take a look at Julian’s Very Nice Typography Inspiration post, you’ll find details on how to order your copy.

If you read German, then they have a wonderful selection of Typography titles.

Where Questions Mean Prizes

Coming soon is an interview with Kris Sowersby. I’d like to include a question from readers, so if you’d like to ask Kris a question (preferably type related), then leave it in the comments below, or mail me. If your question is chosen, then you’ll win a copy of 700 Penguins (the book, not 700 penguins. Only one copy available, so if several people have the same question, then I’ll choose a winner at random).

Have a great Sunday.

free fonts typography news